4 ms·

yeah sorry it's been twenty years since this was published

lproven 4y ago
Yeah, true, it is, but still... I'm probably within 20y of death from old age, if I make it -- I'm now the age my dad was when he died. Has your memory suffered worse than mine over that time? Not trying to be nasty but I mean, come on, it was THE key point of the essay.
- blincoln 4y ago
  I think there are a lot of valuable insights one can take away from Stephenson's essay (it's a favourite of mine as well), and one person's key point may be another person's side discussion. Stephenson did compare Linux to a tank, but he also compared it to the Milwaukee Hole Hawg drill, and that analogy (rather than the tank, which I'd forgotten about entirely) was more memorable for me personally. His argument was that Linux was a very powerful tool for people who know what they're doing. The Hole Hawg has a motor that's so powerful, if the bit gets stuck, the body of the drill will spin in the other direction with enough force to spin the operator around (if they manage to hold on) or break their arm(s) if they lose their grip. People doing certain kinds of serious work want that level of power, but everyone else would most likely be happier with a regular power drill. Not only are they safer, they're a lot smaller and weigh a lot less. Similarly, getting a tank with great gas mileage for free sounds pretty neat at first glance. On the other hand, if someone used to driving a sedan tries to use a tank as a drop-in replacement, the regrets are going to pile up pretty quickly. They might collapse some structures designed for regular vehicles just by driving over them, because tanks weigh so much more. They'll most likely tear up dirt and gravel driveways. They probably won't be able to park it in the places they'd park their car, because the tank is so much bigger. Getting in and out of the vehicle is more of an adventure. There are definitely folks who would love their own tank - I know in Australia there are people that converted surplus WWII tanks into farming equipment - but most non-specialists would be unhappy with one, just like they'd have been unhappy trying to use Linux as a desktop OS in the era when In the Beginning was the Command Line was written, regardless of the price.
  - lproven 4y ago
    Yeah, that's a good, fair and well-reasoned analysis. Can't argue with that. :-)

Yeah, true, it is, but still... I'm probably within 20y of death from old age, if I make it -- I'm now the age my dad was when he died. Has your memory suffered worse than mine over that time? Not trying to be nasty but I mean, come on, it was THE key point of the essay.

blincoln 4y ago
I think there are a lot of valuable insights one can take away from Stephenson's essay (it's a favourite of mine as well), and one person's key point may be another person's side discussion. Stephenson did compare Linux to a tank, but he also compared it to the Milwaukee Hole Hawg drill, and that analogy (rather than the tank, which I'd forgotten about entirely) was more memorable for me personally. His argument was that Linux was a very powerful tool for people who know what they're doing. The Hole Hawg has a motor that's so powerful, if the bit gets stuck, the body of the drill will spin in the other direction with enough force to spin the operator around (if they manage to hold on) or break their arm(s) if they lose their grip. People doing certain kinds of serious work want that level of power, but everyone else would most likely be happier with a regular power drill. Not only are they safer, they're a lot smaller and weigh a lot less. Similarly, getting a tank with great gas mileage for free sounds pretty neat at first glance. On the other hand, if someone used to driving a sedan tries to use a tank as a drop-in replacement, the regrets are going to pile up pretty quickly. They might collapse some structures designed for regular vehicles just by driving over them, because tanks weigh so much more. They'll most likely tear up dirt and gravel driveways. They probably won't be able to park it in the places they'd park their car, because the tank is so much bigger. Getting in and out of the vehicle is more of an adventure. There are definitely folks who would love their own tank - I know in Australia there are people that converted surplus WWII tanks into farming equipment - but most non-specialists would be unhappy with one, just like they'd have been unhappy trying to use Linux as a desktop OS in the era when In the Beginning was the Command Line was written, regardless of the price.
- lproven 4y ago
  Yeah, that's a good, fair and well-reasoned analysis. Can't argue with that. :-)